World Food Safety Day: food safety system at work

A report by New Zealand Food Safety has identified the recall of imported sesame seeds with the potential to cause Salmonella poisoning as last year’s biggest food safety event.

The ‘Consumer-level food recalls annual report for 2024’, published 6 June (a day before World Food Safety Day), shows New Zealand Food Safety supported food businesses to conduct 88 consumer-level food recalls.

• 56 were initiated for domestically produced foods and 32 were for imported foods.
• Allergens were the leading cause for recalls in 2024 (40).
• Gluten was the allergen that triggered the most recalls (12). 
• 29 recalls were due to microbiological contamination.
• 10 recalls were due to physical contamination.

The biggest food safety event in NZ happened in July 2024, with NZFS supporting food businesses in 15 consumer-level recalls due to the possible presence of Salmonella in sesame seeds. The salmonella was detected during routine testing by a New Zealand business importing the seeds.

“Thanks to the swift action of the team at New Zealand Food Safety, risk to the public was minimised. It was complex and meticulous work, involving testing and tracing potentially affected sesame seeds through the domestic market,” said New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle.

“As a result of these efforts, potentially affected product was identified and removed from shelves. In total there were 15 related recalls where the seeds were used, including as ingredients in other products. Most importantly, there were no confirmed reports of related illness.”

The 2024 report identified allergens in food as the leading cause for recalls in 2024, accounting for 46% of all recalls. Over the course of 2024, there were 11 consumer-level recalls initiated due to the presence of undeclared, or incorrectly declared, allergens in food products after they were packaged or labelled incorrectly. 

Gluten detection resulted in the most recall. For example, in October 2024, a food business initiated a consumer-level recall after routine allergen testing detected the presence of gluten in a gluten-free product. A root cause investigation was carried out, which established the source of contamination originated from an imported ingredient in the product, fennel powder.

Of the 29 recalls associated with microbiological contamination, the microorganisms responsible for the greatest number of consumer-level recalls in 2024 were Salmonella (15) and Listeria monocytogenes (4).

The types of food products recalled in 2024 in NZ varied considerably but the three commodity classifications associated with the most consumer-level recalls in 2024 were:

• Fruit & vegetables (27)
• Mixed foods (22)
• Dairy products (excluding butter & fat) (8).

“Recalls are an important part of our work to protect consumers. New Zealand’s food safety system has a strong track record of keeping people safe and — given the volumes of food being produced, manufactured and imported — incidences of related illness remain rare,” Arbuckle said.

“However, there are occasions when food safety issues occur, and that’s when we work quickly with food businesses to recall the affected product, removing it from the food supply chain and promoting public awareness.

“Good regulations also play a key role.”

Crushed sesame seeds are classified as High Regulatory Interest food in New Zealand, and the rules for imported sesame seeds are currently being reviewed. Visit here to find out more.

The full ‘Consumer-level food recalls annual report 2024’ is available for download here.

Image credit: iStock.com/Ivan Bajic